NIPSCO apologizes to Gary residents over prolonged storm power outages

Following a devastating storm in August, residents of Gary, Indiana, and surrounding areas expressed significant frustration regarding prolonged power outages that lasted up to three weeks. During a hearing at the Indiana Statehouse, NIPSCO President and COO Vince Parisi apologized to the community for failing to include Gary, Portage, Lake Station, and Griffith in initial power restoration plans.

Parisi stated the omission was not an attempt to deprioritize these cities, but rather a result of ongoing damage assessments that prevented the company from providing substantiated restoration estimates at the time. He acknowledged that the company failed to communicate this effectively to customers.

Gary Mayor Eddie Melton and other community members highlighted the physical and psychological toll the outage took on the region. Lawmakers are currently reviewing the incident to consider potential changes to utility response protocols to ensure more efficient restoration during future emergencies.